Old/New Testament
3 I am a man seeing my poverty in the rod of his indignation. (I am a man who seeth my poverty, I have felt the rod of his indignation, or of his anger.)
2 He drove me, and brought (me) into darknesses, and not into light.
3 Only he turned into me, and turned together his hand all day. (He turned only against me, and he turned his hand against me all day long.)
4 He made eld my skin, and my flesh; he all-brake my bones. (He made old, or wasted, my skin, and my flesh; he broke all my bones.)
5 He builded in my compass, and he compassed me with gall and travail. (He built all around me, yea, he surrounded me with gall and tribulation.)
6 He setted me in dark places, as everlasting dead men. (He put me in dark places, like the everlasting dead.)
7 He builded about against me, (so) that I go not out; he aggrieved my gyves (he made my chains heavy).
8 But and when I cry and pray, he hath excluded my prayer.
9 He closed together my ways with square stones; he destroyed my paths. (He altogether enclosed my ways with square stones; he destroyed my paths.)
10 He is made (like) a bear setting ambush to me, (like) a lion in hid places.
11 He destroyed my paths, and brake me; he setted me desolate (he left me desolate).
12 He bent his bow, and setted me as a sign to an arrow. (He bent his bow, and made me a target for his arrows.)
13 He sent in(to) my reins the daughters of his arrow case.
14 I am made into scorn to all the people (I am mocked by everyone), the song of them all day (long).
15 He filled me with bitternesses; he greatly filled me with wormwood.
16 He brake at number my teeth (He broke my teeth on gravel); he fed me with ashes.
17 And my soul is put away; I have forgotten goods. (And I have given up; I have forgotten the good things/I have forgotten whatever was good.)
18 And I said, Mine end perished, and mine hope, from the Lord. (And I said, My strength, and my hope in the Lord, have all perished.)
19 Have thou mind on my poverty, and going over, and on wormwood and gall. (Remember my poverty, and my goings about, yea, the wormwood and the gall.)
20 By mind I shall be mindful; and my soul shall fail in me. (Remember, O remember; even though my soul shall fail in me.)
21 I bethink these things in mine heart, I shall hope in God.
22 The mercies of the Lord be many, for we be not wasted; for why his merciful doings failed not.
23 I knew in the morrowtide; thy faith is much [much is thy faith]. (They be new in the morning; great is thy faithfulness.)
24 My soul said, The Lord is my part; therefore I shall abide him. (My soul said, The Lord is my portion; and so I shall wait for him.)
25 The Lord is good to them that hope into him, to a soul seeking him. (The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to someone seeking him.)
26 It is good to abide with stillness the health of God. (It is good to silently wait for the salvation of God./It is good to patiently wait for the deliverance of God.)
27 It is good to a man (It is good for a person), when he hath borne the yoke of his youth.
28 He shall sit alone, and he shall be still; for he raised himself above himself. (He shall sit alone, and he shall be silent/and he shall be patient; and he shall carry it by himself.)
29 He shall set his mouth in (the) dust, if peradventure hope is. (He shall put his face upon the ground, for perhaps there may still be hope.)
30 He shall give the cheek to a man that smiteth him; he shall be filled with shames. (He shall give his cheek to the one who striketh him; he shall be laden with abuse.)
31 For the Lord shall not put away [into] without end. (For the Lord shall not cast us away forever.)
32 For if he casted away, and he shall do mercy after the multitude of his mercies. (For even if he hath cast us away, he shall still do mercy after the multitude of his mercies.)
33 For he maked not low of his heart; and casted not away the sons of men. (For he did not make his heart low; and did not cast away the sons and daughters of men forever.)
34 That he should all-foul under his feet all the bound men of [the] earth. (So that he would all-foul all the bound, or all the imprisoned, on earth, under his feet.)
35 That he should bow down the doom of (a) man, in the sight of the cheer of the Highest. (So that he would deny someone justice, before the very face of the Most High.)
36 That he should pervert a man in his doom, the Lord knew not. (So that he would pervert a person in his judgement; nay, the Lord desireth none of this.)
37 Who is this that said (Who is this who said), that a thing should be done, when the Lord commandeth (it) not?
38 Neither goods neither evils shall go out of the mouth of the Highest. (Do not both good and evil go out from the mouth of the Most High?)
39 What grutched a man living, a man (punished) for his sins? (Why grumble a living man, when he is punished for his sins?)
40 Search we our ways, and seek we, and turn we again to the Lord. (Consider all that we do, and seek we the truth about it, and then turn we again to the Lord.)
41 Raise we our hearts with hands, to the Lord into heavens. (Raise we up our hearts with our hands, to the Lord in heaven.)
42 We have done wickedly, and have stirred thee to wrath; therefore thou art not able to be prayed (to).
43 Thou coveredest in strong vengeance, and smitedest us (and hast struck us); thou killedest (us), and sparedest (us) not.
44 Thou settedest a cloud to thee, that prayer pass not. (Thou hast set a cloud before thee, that prayers cannot pass through.)
45 Thou settedest me, drawing up by the root, and casting out, in the midst of [the] peoples. (Thou hast made us, as if drawn up by the root, and cast out, in the midst of the peoples.)
46 All [the] enemies opened their mouth on us. (All the enemies have opened their mouths against us.)
47 Inward dread and snare is made to us, prophecy and defouling. (Inward fear and snare be made upon us, and prophecy and defiling.)
48 Mine eyes led down partings of waters, for the defouling of the daughter of my people.
49 Mine eye was tormented, and was not still; for no rest was. (My eyes were tormented, and were not still; for there was no rest,)
50 Until the Lord beheld, and saw from heavens. (until the Lord beheld, and saw from heaven.)
51 Mine eye robbed my soul in all the daughters of my city. (My heart is grieved at what befell all the daughters of my city.)
52 Mine enemies took me without cause, by hunting (me) as a bird. (My enemies had no reason to be against me, yet they hunted me down like a bird.)
53 My life slid into a pit; and they putted a stone on me.
54 Waters flowed over mine head; I said, I perish.
55 Lord, I called to help thy name, from the last pit. (Lord, I called thy name for help, from the deepest pit/from the bottom of the pit.)
56 Thou heardest my voice; turn thou not away thine ear from my sobbing and cries.
57 Thou nighedest to me in the day, wherein I called thee to help; thou saidest, Dread thou not. (Thou came to me on the day, when I called to thee for help; thou saidest, Fear thou not.)
58 Lord, again-buyer of my life, thou deemedest the cause of my soul. (Lord, the Redeemer of my life, thou hast pleaded the cause of my soul/thou hast pleaded my soul’s case.)
59 Lord, thou sawest the wickedness of them against me; deem thou my doom (judge thou my judgement/judge thou my justice).
60 Thou sawest all the strong vengeance, all the thoughts of them against me.
61 Lord, thou heardest the shames of them (Lord, thou heardest their abuse); all the thoughts of them against me.
62 The lips of men rising against me, and the thoughts of them against me all day (long).
63 See thou the sitting and (the) rising again of them; I am the psalm of them (I am their song of mocking).
64 Lord, thou shalt yield while to them, by the works of their hands. (Lord, thou shalt punish them, according to the works of their hands.)
65 Thou shalt give to them the shield of heart, thy travail. (Give thou them much sorrow of heart, and thy trials and tribulation.)
66 Lord, thou shalt pursue them in thy strong vengeance, and thou shalt defoul them under heavens (and thou shalt utterly defile them under the heavens).
4 How is gold made dark, the best colour is changed? the stones of the saintuary be scattered in the head of all streets. (How the gold is made dark, the best colour is changed! the stones from the sanctuary be scattered at the head, or at the top, of every street.)
2 The noble sons of Zion, and clothed with the best gold, how be they areckoned into earthen vessels, into the work of the hands of a potter? (The noble sons of Zion, and clothed with the best gold, how they be reckoned like clay vessels, yea, the work of the hands of a potter!)
3 But also lamias made naked their teats, gave milk to their whelps; (but) the daughter of my people is cruel, as an ostrich in desert (like an ostrich in the wilderness).
4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaved to his palate in thirst; little children asked (for) bread, and none was that brake to them (but no one gave them any).
5 They that ate lustfully, perished in ways; they that were nourished in cradles, embraced turds. (They who ate lustfully, perished on the ways; they who were nourished in cradles, hung onto dung.)
6 And the wickedness of the daughter of my people is made more than the sin of (the) men of Sodom, that was destroyed in a moment, and hands took not therein.
7 (The) Nazarites thereof were whiter than snow, shininger than milk; ruddier than eld ivory, fairer than sapphire (redder than old ivory, more beautiful than sapphire).
8 The face of them was made blacker than coals, and they were not known in (the) streets; the skin cleaved to their bones, it dried, and was made as a stick (it dried up, and was made like a stick).
9 It was better to men slain with sword, than to men slain with hunger; for these men waxed rotten, they were wasted of the barrenness of [the] earth. (It was better for those who were killed with the sword, than for those killed by hunger; for these people slowly grew rotten, and they wasted away for the barrenness of the land.)
10 The hands of merciful women seethed their children; they were made the meats of those women in the sorrow of the daughter of my people. (The hands of merciful women boiled their own children; they were made the food for those women in the horror of the wounding of my people.)
11 The Lord [ful]filled his strong vengeance, he shedded out the ire of his indignation (he poured out his anger); and the Lord kindled a fire in Zion, and it devoured the foundaments thereof.
12 The kings of [the] earth, and all the dwellers of the world believed not (and all the inhabitants of the world could not believe it), that an adversary and [the] enemy should enter in by the gates of Jerusalem.
13 For the sins of the prophets thereof, and for [the] wickednesses of priests thereof, that shedded out the blood of just men in the midst thereof. (For the sins of its prophets, and for the wickednesses of its priests, who poured out the blood of the just in its midst.)
14 Blind men erred in streets, they were defouled in blood (They wandered about like the blind in the streets, they were defiled in blood); and when they might not go, they held (onto) their hems.
15 They cried to them, Depart away, ye defouled men, depart ye, go ye away, do not ye touch; forsooth they chided, and were stirred; they said among heathen men (they said among the heathen), God shall no more add to, that he dwell among them.
16 The face of the Lord parted them, he shall no more lay to, that he behold them; they were not ashamed of the faces of priests, neither they had mercy on eld men (they were not ashamed before the priests, nor did they have any mercy for the elders).
17 The while we stood yet, our eyes failed to our vain help; when we beheld attentive to a folk, that might not save us. (Yet while we stood, our eyes looked in vain for our help; we looked attentively for a nation, that could not save us.)
18 Our steps were slidery in the way of our streets; our end nighed, our days were [ful]filled, for our end came.
19 Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of heaven; they pursued us on [the] hills, they setted ambushments to us in desert. (Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the heavens; they pursued us over the hills, they set ambush for us in the wilderness.)
20 The spirit of our mouth, Christ the Lord, was taken in our sins; to whom we said, We shall live in thy shadow among heathen men. (The very breath of our mouth, yea, the Lord’s anointed king, was caught in their sins; he of whom we had said, We shall live under thy shadow, among the heathen.)
21 Thou daughter of Edom, make joy, and be glad, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup shall come also to thee, thou shalt be made drunken, and shalt be made bare. (O daughter of Edom, rejoice, and be happy, thou who livest in the land of Uz; the cup shall also come to thee, and thou shalt be made drunk, and shalt be made naked.)
22 Thou daughter of Zion, thy wickedness is [ful]filled; he shall not add more, that he make thee to pass over (again into captivity); thou daughter of Edom, he shall visit thy wickedness, he shall uncover thy sins (O daughter of Edom, he shall punish thy wickedness, he shall uncover thy sins).
5 Lord, have thou mind what befell to us (Lord, remember what hath happened to us); see thou, and behold our shame.
2 Our heritage is turned to aliens, our houses be turned to strangers. (Our inheritance is turned, or given, over to foreigners, our houses be turned over to strangers.)
3 We be made fatherless children without (a) father; our mothers be as widows (our mothers be like widows).
4 We drank our water for money, we bought our wood for silver. (We must buy our water to drink with money, and we must buy our wood to burn with silver.)
5 We were driven by our heads, and rest was not given to faint men. (The yoke is upon our necks, and rest is not given to the weary.)
6 We gave (the) hand to Egypt, and to Assyrians, that we should be [ful]filled with bread. (We put forth our hands to Egypt, and to Assyria, for food to eat.)
7 Our fathers sinned, and be not, and we bare the wickednesses of them (Our forefathers sinned, and be not, and we carry their wickednesses.)
8 Servants were lords of us, and none was, that again-bought from the hand of them. (Servants be our lords, and there is no one who can rescue us from their hands.)
9 In our lives we brought bread to us, from the face of [the] sword in desert. (Risking our lives, we brought in food for us, from the face of the sword in the wilderness.)
10 Our skin is burnt as a furnace, of the face of tempests of hunger. (Our skin is burned like from a furnace, from being buffeted by the tempests of hunger.)
11 They made low (the) women in Zion, and (the) virgins in the cities of Judah.
12 Princes were hanged [up] by the hand; they were not ashamed of the faces of eld men. (Our leaders were hung up by their hands; no one showed any honour to the old men, or the elders.)
13 They misused young waxing men unchastely, and children fell down in (the) tree. (They used the young men unchastely, and children fell down under loads of wood.)
14 Eld men failed from [the] gates; young men failed from the quire of singers. (Old men no longer sit at the city gates; young men no longer sing in the choir.)
15 The joy of our heart failed; our song is turned into mourning.
16 The crown of our head fell down (The crowns have fallen from our heads); woe to us! for we (all have) sinned.
17 Therefore our heart is made sorrowful, therefore our eyes be made dark.
18 For the hill of Zion, for it perished; foxes went in it. (For Mount Zion, for it hath perished; and now foxes run all over it.)
19 But thou, Lord, shalt dwell without end; thy seat shall dwell in generation and into generation. (But thou, Lord, shalt live forever; thy throne shall remain for all generations.)
20 Why shalt thou forget us [into] without end, shalt thou forsake us into [the] length of days? (Why hast thou forgotten us for so long, shalt thou abandon us forever?)
21 Lord, convert thou us to thee, and we shall be converted; make thou new our days, as at the beginning. (Lord, turn thou us back to thee, and we shall come back to thee; renew thou our days, like at the beginning.)
22 But thou casting away hast cast away us; thou art wroth against us greatly. (But thou casting away hath cast us away; thou still hath great anger against us.)
19 Therefore, brethren, having trust into the entering of holy things in the blood of Christ,
20 which [he] hallowed to us a new way, and living by the covering [by a veil, or covering], that is to say, his flesh,
22 approach we with very heart in the plenty of faith [nigh we with very heart in the plenty of faith]; and be our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water,
23 and hold we the confession of our hope, bowing to no side [hold we the confession of our hope unbowing, unpliable]; for he is true that hath made the promise.
24 And behold we together in the stirring of charity and of good works;
25 not forsaking our gathering together, as it is the custom to some men, but comforting [them], and by so much the more, by how much ye see the day approaching.[a]
26 For why now a sacrifice for sins is not left to us, that sin willfully, after that we have taken the knowing of truth. [Forsooth to us sinning willfully, after the knowing of truth taken, now an host for sins is not left.]
27 For why some abiding of doom is dreadful, and the following of fire, which shall waste adversaries.
28 Who that breaketh Moses' law, dieth without any mercy, by two or three witnesses;
29 how much more guess ye, that he deserveth worse torments [him to deserve worse torments], which defouleth the Son of God, and holdeth the blood of the testament polluted, in which he is hallowed, and doeth despite [and shall do wrong, or despite,] to the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him that said, To me vengeance, and I shall yield. And again, For the Lord shall deem his people.
31 It is fearedful to fall into the hands of God living.[b]
32 And have ye mind on the former days, in which ye were lightened, and suffered great strife of passions [in which ye lightened sustained great strife, or fight, of passions].
33 And in the tother ye were made a spectacle by shames and tribulations; in another ye were made fellows of men living so. [And soothly in the tother ye were made a spectacle by reproofs and tribulations; in the tother forsooth ye be made fellows of men living so.]
34 For also to bound men ye had compassion, and ye received with joy the robbing of your goods, knowing that ye have a better and a dwelling substance [and ye received with joy the raven of your goods, knowing you to have a better and dwelling substance].
35 Therefore do not ye lose your trust, which hath great rewarding.
36 For patience is needful to you, that ye do the will of God, and bring again the promise [that ye doing the will of God, bring again the promise].
37 For yet a little, and he that is to come shall come, and he shall not tarry.
38 For my just man liveth of faith; that if he withdraweth himself, he shall not please to my soul.
39 But we be not the sons of withdrawing away into perdition, but of faith into [the] getting of soul.
2001 by Terence P. Noble